The present invention relates in general to vehicle transmission diagnostics and, more particularly, to method and system for measuring an evaluating gear life for a particular gear ratio in a vehicle transmission.
It is well-known that the vehicle accumulates gear use or damage of the transmission while being driven. In the past, automated transmission technology made it very difficult, or impossible, to know how much gear life is remaining in a given gear ratio, or whether a given ratio is worn or damaged, or to determine the duty life history of each gear ratio. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a monitor system that can statistically measure the amount of life used by each gear ratio to determine if a gear ratio is worn or damaged, to determine the root cause of why a gear ratio is worn or damaged, and to take proactive and/or reactive measures to extend the life of the transmission.
The invention relates to a method and system of determining how much gear life is remaining in a given gear ratio of a vehicle transmission. A rotational speed and torque of a rotating component, such as an input shaft of the vehicle transmission, is measured by sensors at a plurality of time intervals for a period of time. The time interval can be between 40 ms and 100 ms and the period of time can be hours, days, months, or even years. A processor is electrically coupled to the sensors to transform the signals from the sensors into an equivalent amount of time for the given gear ratio. The torque and speed events or instances can also be stored in bins of a non-volatile memory of the processor for later retrieval to determine if a gear ratio is worn or damaged, to determine the root cause of why a gear ratio is worn or damaged, and to take proactive and/or reactive measures to extend the life of the transmission.